Marco Botti has expressed his pride in Giavellotto’s brave run in defeat at York, with connections now mulling over a possible tilt at the Melbourne Cup later in the year.
The Yorkshire Cup champion was returning to the scene of his finest hour when lining-up in the Lonsdale Cup and lost little in defeat as he fought out the finish with the Ascot Gold Cup first and second, Courage Mon Ami and Coltrane.
It was Andrew Balding’s consistent performer who came out on top on the Knavesmire, with Botti’s four-year-old giving way to the stronger stayers late in the day as he finished two lengths adrift in third.
However, the Newmarket-based handler was far from despondent as his long distance star showed his qualities once again.
Botti said: “It was a good run and he was beaten by two proper stayers who finished first and second in the Gold Cup. They are the best stayers around and maybe they just outstayed him.
“I always thought one-mile-six would be Giavellotto’s optimum trip. He gets the two miles but when he runs against the proper stayers, maybe the final furlong gets a bit hard work.
“It was no disgrace to finish third behind two proper stayers and he is a horse who has been consistent and tries his best all the time. For sure he handles York quite well.”
Giavellotto holds entries in the Comer Group International Irish St Leger (Curragh, September 10) and the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot on British Champions Day (October 21).
However, Botti is hoping to get the go-ahead from owner Francesca Franchini of Scuderia La Tesa Limited to travel to Australia for the ‘race that stops a nation’ at Flemington on November 7.
“He’s a horse who wouldn’t want the ground too soft. He is in the Irish St Leger, but we thought by then you don’t know what the ground will be,” explained Botti.
“We are still discussing about the Melbourne Cup and I’m pretty sure we will enter him and then finalise the plans. Otherwise in England it will just be Champions Day as the only goal left for him.”
He went on: “I would be in favour (of going for the Melbourne Cup). The fact he went to Dubai and is a horse who travels well and I also think the track will suit him – it is similar to York, a left-handed track.
“I think he will get in. He won a Group Two so he should make the cut for the Melbourne Cup, but then it is up to the owners as it is quite an expensive trip to take on and as we know the rules are quite strict before the race. The vetting can be tricky but he is a sound horse.
“If we take that route, hopefully all goes to plan, and I would be in favour if the owner wanted to go.”
If a trip to the Southern Hemisphere doesn’t come to fruition, Botti hopes to explore other options overseas for Giavellotto during his five-year-old campaign as he envisages his stable star improving further with experience.
“He’s a nice horse to still have in the yard and we have been able to win a Group Two this year,” he added.
“He’s a nice horse to have and maybe campaign abroad next year, whether that be Dubai or Saudi Arabia. We’re not planning too far ahead but he’s definitely a horse who has scope to get even better.”
Francis Meynell could be immediately upped in grade at Doncaster’s St Leger Festival having made a successful introduction at Navan.
Michael O’Callaghan’s speedily-bred Blue Point youngster cost 125,000 guineas at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year and went some way to justifying that price-tag with a taking display in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden.
Sent immediately to the front by Leigh Roche, he barely saw another rival as he defied inexperience to produce an ultra-professional performance and register a running-on three-quarters of a length success at 8-1.
His trainer was suitably impressed and is now eyeing a trip to Town Moor on September 15 for the Carlsberg Danish Pilsner Stakes, the Group Two contest most commonly known as the Flying Childers.
“He’s a horse I’ve taken my time with. He’s quite enthusiastic at home so we went back to basics with him and we’ve slowly let him get himself ready for this,” said O’Callaghan.
“He’s going to improve plenty. It’s more so his mind that made him look so professional today, but I think he’ll improve a lot from what he’s done at home.
“It looked like a good race on paper beforehand and Leigh said he thought that he was only in second gear.
“I thought if he was able to win his maiden today and he looked nice that I might pitch him into something like the Flying Childers.
“He’s quick, he’d get six furlongs I’d say, but he has a lot of speed and there is no point trying to tame it.
“I not trying to talk him up but I honestly don’t know where the bottom of him is.”
Earlier on the card Aidan O’Brien’s Pop Star (100-30) highlighted his potential when downing 1-3 favourite Yosemite Valley to shed his maiden tag at the third time of asking.
Off the track since finishing second at Navan just over a year ago, the son of Sioux Nation showed plenty of pace to make up for lost time and potentially earn a shot at something bigger and better next time.
“We thought a bit of him last year and he got a setback, he’s missed a lot of time off the track,” said winning rider Seamie Heffernan.
“Pat Martin trained the mother, she was very genuine and she won a heap of races.
“In the last 20 yards was quite green but I was more than happy with him.
“He’s quick, five or six furlongs. If he gets seven furlongs, he’s definitely a stakes horse.”
Also on course for a sterner test in his next outing is Michael Mulvaney’s Bid For Chester (7-2) who thrived dropping back in trip to break his duck at the fifth attempt in the Navan Racecourse Nursery Handicap.
“He fired a warning shot the other day and Chris came in a said he was a bit green when he went for him,” said Mulvany.
“When he came through them today the hill suited him.
“Hopefully now he’ll go to the sales race, the Goffs Sportman’s Challenge in Naas on September 14th. That was the plan all year.”
Ambati Rayudu has cut his CPL stint with St Kitts and Nevis Patriots short and left the tournament due to personal reasons.
Rayudu played three innings for Patriots in the ongoing edition, managing 47 runs at 15.66 and a strike rate of 117.50. His scores in the three innings were 0, 32 and 15.
Rayudu was signed up as a marquee player by Patriots, making him just the second Indian to play in the men's CPL after Pravin Tambe. He had earlier in 2023 retired from international and Indian domestic cricket after helping Chennai Super Kings claim a fifth IPL title.
Zimbabwe fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani has also left the tournament for personal reasons. Muzarabani played three games for Patriots and picked up one wicket at 69 with an economy of 10.61. The English duo of fast bowler Benny Howell and top order batter Will Smeed have been called up to replace Rayudu and Muzarabani in the Patriots squad.
Patriots are the only team in the competition without a single win in six matches. Since their opening two fixtures got abandoned due to rain, they have lost each of their following four games.
Meanwhile, Carlos Brathwaite has been called up by Barbados Royals as a temporary replacement for wicketkeeper-batter Donovan Ferreira. Ferreira has been included in South Africa's 16-member squad for their home T20I series against Australia. He is expected to return after his national duties are over.
Ferreira played only one game for Royals in CPL 2023, in which he scored 19 runs. Brathwaite has played 77 CPL matches for four teams and this will be his first stint with Royals. He has scored 822 runs at 16.11 and picked up 59 wickets at 30.15. This is the first time he will be part of the CPL since the 2021 edition.
Derby third White Birch is set to return to the track at Leopardstown during the Irish Champions Festival following a mid-season break.
Trained by John Murphy, the colt acquitted himself with real credit in the first half of the season and it was at Leopardstown where he won the Ballysax Stakes on his seasonal bow before podium finishes in both the Dante and the Derby at Epsom.
The only blot in the son of Ulysses’ copybook came when misfiring at the Curragh in the Irish Derby prior to his break, but he is now reported to be in rude health ahead of his impending return to the track.
He holds entries in Leopardstown’s Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes and the Prix Niel at ParisLongchamp, but connections are favouring the Group Three Paddy Power Stakes at the Dublin track for White Birch’s comeback outing.
“He’s in super shape and he’s had a couple of weeks of a break,” said George Murphy, assistant trainer to his father.
“We’re just building him up slowly to run probably next weekend. He’s in the Champion Stakes, the Kilternan Stakes (Paddy Power Stakes) and the Prix Niel in France.
“There’s no concrete plan which we will go for next, but he will run in one of those races.
“I think at the moment it is likely we will go to the Kilternan Stakes.”
White Birch has plied his trade at the highest level in his most recent outings, contesting Classics on both sides of the Irish sea.
However, he will be dropping back to Group Three company if contesting the Paddy Power Stakes, with Murphy explaining it is the mile-and-a-half distance that is the biggest determining factor when selecting the horse’s next target.
He added: “There is going to be nothing easy about a race on Champions Weekend, but I think a mile and a half is his most suitable trip and it just happens to be a Group Three.
“That’s the race that suits him that weekend other than the Prix Niel in France which he also has the option of as well.”
White Birch’s appearances are set to be limited this autumn as his training team already have one eye on a four-year-old campaign.
However, there is the possibility the colt may take an enterprising trip to Germany before the end of the season for a crack at Munich’s Grosser Preis von Bayern in early November, a Group One contest won two years ago by Sir Mark Prescott’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Alpinista.
“He’s entered in the Grosser Preis von Bayern and there is the potential he may go there – that’s a bit later in the year,” said Murphy.
“There’s a couple of other races but we’re probably not going to over-race him in the autumn.
“He’s grown quite a lot and we’re kind of looking forward to next year with him really.
“There’s a nice programme throughout the year for older horses and he’s shown throughout this year he is more than happy to travel. He should have a big future next year, please God.”
A return to France on Arc weekend and a trip to the Breeders’ Cup will come under consideration for Tiger Belle following her front-running success in the Prix d’Arenberg at ParisLongchamp.
The Ado McGuinness-trained filly was a 7-1 shot stepping up to Group Three level following a narrow Listed success at Naas and was smartly away in the hands of Cristian Demuro.
Karl Burke’s Dawn Charger finished with a flourish, but Tiger Belle saw her off by a neck, with Graceful Thunder the same distance further away in third for George Boughey.
McGuinness said of the winner: “She’s a very tough filly and I’ve said all along she’s very fast, one of the fastest fillies I’ve ever had.
“She’s improving with every run, she’s a lovely filly to have and I’m delighted for the guys that own her (Shamrock Thoroughbreds).”
The County Dublin-based handler confirmed Tiger Belle could carry new colours on her next start if a suitable offer arrives as he targets a potential step up to the highest level.
“No one rang us after she won in Naas, but she is for sale and hopefully someone might buy her now. We’d love to keep her, but the lads that own her are an investment syndicate and we have to sell to survive,” McGuinness added.
“We have plenty of options for her now. She could run at the Breeders’ Cup over five or we have the option of going for the Prix de l’Abbaye if we wanted.
“She obviously handles the track. I think the key to Longchamp is the draw, but her gate speed is very fast, she kills the race halfway through and they just struggle to catch her.”
A return to France on Arc weekend and a trip to the Breeders’ Cup will come under consideration for Tiger Belle following her front-running success in the Prix d’Arenberg at ParisLongchamp.
The Ado McGuinness-trained filly was a 7-1 shot stepping up to Group Three level following a narrow Listed success at Naas and was smartly away in the hands of Cristian Demuro.
Karl Burke’s Dawn Charger finished with a flourish, but Tiger Belle saw her off by a neck, with Graceful Thunder the same distance further away in third for George Boughey.
McGuinness said of the winner: “She’s a very tough filly and I’ve said all along she’s very fast, one of the fastest fillies I’ve ever had.
“She’s improving with every run, she’s a lovely filly to have and I’m delighted for the guys that own her (Shamrock Thoroughbreds).”
The County Dublin-based handler confirmed Tiger Belle could carry new colours on her next start if a suitable offer arrives as he targets a potential step up to the highest level.
“No one rang us after she won in Naas, but she is for sale and hopefully someone might buy her now. We’d love to keep her, but the lads that own her are an investment syndicate and we have to sell to survive,” McGuinness added.
“We have plenty of options for her now. She could run at the Breeders’ Cup over five or we have the option of going for the Prix de l’Abbaye if we wanted.
“She obviously handles the track. I think the key to Longchamp is the draw, but her gate speed is very fast, she kills the race halfway through and they just struggle to catch her.”
As the world’s leading players eye Paralympic gold, the battle for supremacy in one para table tennis class could come down to a clash of two Welsh friends.
Wheelchair athletes Rob Davies and Tom Matthews are both training partners and rivals and, as two of the best in the game, have their sights set on the same top prize.
Davies, a two-time Paralympian, gold medallist in Rio seven years ago and winner of four European titles, is the more experienced of the pair.
But after a two-year injury lay-off that forced him to miss the Tokyo Games, the 39-year-old has had a long battle to get back to the summit.
In the meantime, Matthews, 31, has firmly asserted his credentials in the class one category, claiming bronze on his Paralympic debut in Japan and repeating that result at last year’s World Championships.
Both are ranked in the world’s top 10 and will be favourites at next week’s European Championships in Sheffield, where a precious qualification spot for Paris 2024 will be on the line.
“We’re team-mates and rivals in the competition,” Davies told the PA news agency. “We have a good bit of banter. He beats me and I beat him – that’s how it goes.
“Whether it’s me or him that gets the medal it’ll be really nice. I wish him well, he wishes me well and hopefully we can meet in the final.
“It’s been a long road back for me for the last two years. I had a medical problem that affected my nervous system and I wasn’t able to defend my title in Tokyo.
“That was really upsetting but I’ve been battling back. I was losing to people I’m not used to losing to but I’m finally getting up to the standard I’m used to now.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge. Paris has been my motivation to come back. I know I’m coming towards the end of my career but I’ve got something to prove and I want to go there and prove it.”
The pair have met plenty of times, both in training and more seriously, with Matthews’ victory in the Czech Open final this summer among their more high-profile recent encounters.
“It is a friendly rivalry,” said Aberdare’s Matthews. “I’m based in the Valleys and he’s up in Brecon, so we both train at Sport Wales in Cardiff.
“Off the table we are friendly. He is a really good guy and I respect him highly for what he has achieved in his career. Recently I came out on top but we know each other’s games inside out, so it could sway either way on the day.
“Hopefully we can meet in the final and make it a British one-two, but I’m hoping I come out on top!
“That’s the main aim. If you win the Europeans you get automatic qualification for Paris and I want to get that golden ticket.
“I obviously want to win the Paralympic Games – I’ve achieved winning a Paralympic medal and I haven’t got the right colour for myself yet – but the Europeans are next and that’s the only thing on my radar at the moment.
“I’ll take it match by match but I really want to win this one.”
Equality is headed to the Curragh after holding his own when finishing sixth in the Nunthorpe at York.
The five-year-old, who is trained by Charlie Hills, was a 50-1 shot on his first attempt at Group One level and was far from outranked when beaten just over three lengths.
The Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai Flying Five Stakes on September 10 is now the aim as the bay has proved himself to be at home alongside the top sprinters over five furlongs.
Sam Hoskins, racing manager for owners Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds, said: “We were delighted with him, he ran a great race for sixth. He was probably just on the wrong side of the draw and not near enough to the pace on the far side, but he hit the line really strong and Danny Muscutt was very complimentary about him.
“The one thing it did prove is that he was up to the Group One level, so hopefully he can take the syndicate to more Group One races going forwards.
“I don’t think there’s that much between them at that level over five furlongs at the moment.
“The plan is to go to the Flying Five at the Curragh next time and that might not be totally dissimilar to the test he faced at Sandown when he won the Coral Charge.
“A stiff five furlongs might just suit him well and if he gets a better draw there, then he should have an each-way squeak.”
Hills had a sprint winner at the meeting in Equilateral, who took the Sky Bet And Symphony Group Handicap aged eight to prove the trainer’s ability to keep seasoned sprinters sweet.
Hoskins said: “Charlie showed earlier in the with Equilateral that he can keep those sprinters going on for a while.
“Hopefully there’s lots more fun to come for us, he’ll stay with us forever and it’d be great to think that we could dream of winning a Group One one day.”
Runaway York winner Dragon Leader has another valuable sales race waiting for him after his taking victory in the Goffs UK Harry Beeby Premier Yearling Stakes at the Ebor meeting – his third win from three runs.
The Clive Cox-trained son of El Kabeir has the Weatherbys Scientific £300,000 2-Y-O Stakes at Doncaster in his sights now, a race in which he will carry a light weight as the concept of the contest is to assign runners a burden that corresponds to the median price of their respective sires’ yearlings sold at auction in 2022.
“It was thrilling, absolutely thrilling,” Hoskins said of the success.
“He’s been coming along nicely and won those two races early on, but that was amazing last week.
“There were lots of syndicate members up there and they were over the moon, it’s what we dream of.
“Our syndicate was set up in the late 1980s to try to win the Cartier Million sales race, so it’s kind of a full circle to win a big sales race – that was absolutely brilliant.
“The plan is to go for the big Weatherbys Scientific two-year-old sales race at Doncaster, because he’s by El Kabeir he’s got quite a low median price so he’s actually got bottom weight in the race which is really exciting.
“You’d hope he’d have a strong chance in a good field, then we can just see how we get on in that and decide what’s happening in the future.”
A dominant display with both bat and ball saw Trinbago Knight Riders register a record 133-run win over Barbados Royals in the 2023 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) at Kensington Oval on Wednesday.
Barbados Royals, captained by Rovman Powell, won the toss and opted to field first, and it seemed a good decision, as they initially had Trinbago Knight Riders at 69-2 inside 10 overs, before a fantastic 108-run third wicket stand between Martin Guptill and captain Kieron Pollard fired the Knight Riders to their daunting total of 194-5.
Guptill, whose last half-century in the CPL was back in 2018 against the Tallawahs, came good on the night with a 58-ball unbeaten century, while Pollard contributed 46 off 32 balls. Jason Holder was the pick of the Royals bowling with 2-39 from his four overs.
The Royals's reply was derailed by Andre Russell, who grabbed three quick wickets in the powerplay -Rahkeem Cornwall (zero), Kyle Mayers (zero) and Alick Athanaze (two) -while Sunil Narine accounted for Laurie Evans (five) and the host were unable to recover from the early demolition. They were eventually bowled out for 61 in 12.1 overs, succumbing to the largest defeat in CPL history.
Afghan left-arm wrist spinner Waqar Salamkheil introduced himself to the tournament in grand fashion, picking up four for 14 in 3.1 overs. Russell had three for 13 from two overs and Akeil Hosein, two for 16 from four.
Earlier, Trinbago Knight Riders had a cautious start to their innings, with Guptill progressing steadily at one point on 20 runs from 20 balls. They lost the wickets of Mark Deyal (27) and Nicholas Pooran (six), but the complexion of the innings changed once Pollard joined Guptill in the middle.
The two swung the momentum of the game, with Guptill, opening up and paraded his six hitting skills, as he hammered nine maximums and a solitary four on his way to an even 100 which came up in the final over. It was the first century of the 2023 edition and it was firmly backed by Pollard's well-paced knock, which included four sixes and a solitary four.
Despite losing Pollard, Russell (five) and Dwayne Bravo (zero) at the backend, the damage was already done, and it was left for the Knight Riders bowlers to mop up what was left of the Royals hopes on the night.
Barbados Royals will be back in action tomorrow night against reigning champions Jamaica Tallawahs at the same venue.
Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 194-5 (20 overs); Barbados Royals 61 all out (12.1 overs)
Defending champion St. Mary will face former champion Manchester in the final of the Kingston Wharves U15 Cricket Competition on Thursday at Up Park Camp starting at 10:00 am.
St. Mary is yet to lose a match in this year's competition, and they will be confident of defending their title. They defeated Kingston in their semi-final, bowling them out for 68 and then chasing down the total in just 12.2 overs.
Manchester, on the other hand, has a number of national championships under their belt, including the last one in 2019 at the same venue as this year's final. They lost one match in the preliminary round of the competition to St. Mary, but they will be hoping to turn the tables on their opponents in the final.
The match is expected to be a close one, with both teams having strong batting and bowling lineups. St. Mary will be relying on their experienced players, such as Tyreece Saunders and Devantae Miller, to lead the way, while Manchester will be looking to their young stars, such as Demario Hall and Matthias Knight, to make a big impact.
The pitch at Up Park Camp is expected to be a good one for batting, so both teams should be able to score runs. However, the conditions could also favor the bowlers, so it will be interesting to see how the teams adapt.
The final is sure to be a thrilling contest, and it is one that cricket fans will not want to miss.
John and Thady Gosden’s Melrose Stakes winner Middle Earth will be a supplementary entry for the final British Classic of the season, the Betfred St Leger at Doncaster.
The Qatar Racing-owned Roaring Lion colt took the staying handicap in impressive style at York on the final day of the Ebor meeting.
He was also a winner on his previous outing when taking a mile-and-a-half novice event at Newmarket and was second on his two prior runs over lesser trips.
Ahead of the York win he was not a part of the Leger entry list, but the Knavesmire performance has inspired connections to pay the £50,000 needed to secure him a place in the field for the world’s oldest Classic.
The Gosden yard could therefore be well-stocked for the Classic, with Juddmonte’s Arrest, Queen’s Vase winner Gregory and Lion’s Pride – who beat Middle Earth at Kempton – all holding entries at present.
Thady Gosden said of Middle Earth: “He’s progressed well throughout the year, he’s always looked like a nice staying colt in the making.
“Of course he won the Melrose, which is an impressive handicap, in good style.
“He’s got plenty of size and scope, he’s a horse that’s taken time to mature, as many three-year-olds do.
“It’s a fortunate position to be in, to have a few horse who could take up starting positions in the St Leger.”
Mortlake will look to take the next step forward when he makes a Group-race debut in the Virgin Bet Solario Stakes at Sandown on Saturday.
The Churchill colt broke the juvenile track record at Leicester on August 13, winning a seven-furlong novice by five lengths in an impressive run under Rossa Ryan.
The performance followed a very green debut at Salisbury in July, where the Ralph Beckett-trained bay was fourth behind Tom Dascombe’s Hot Fuss, who ran with some credit in the Acomb Stakes last week.
The Leicester effort was a big step forward and a more accurate representation of the ability he had shown at home – ability that will be tested further at Sandown this weekend.
Eamonn O’Connor, founder and managing director of owners Quantum Leap Racing, said: “They turn around so quickly and second runs can be so different, so we put a line through Salisbury – it didn’t worry us as we’d seen enough at home to suggest he might be a nice horse.
“What I liked is that he ran in a straight line, he was almost a bit babyish in the last half-furlong and he was looking around a bit so I’m hoping there’s a bit more to come.
“We’ll find out, we’ve got some fairly punchy entries for him at Group Two and Group One level and Saturday will tell us whether we’ve been realistic with those. It’s a good stepping stone for a horse of his profile, it’s the ideal race for him really.”
Beckett has been in flying form recently and is well stocked with smart horses, adding gravitas to a Group entrant who trains alongside some talented stablemates.
O’Connor said: “He’s not short of a smart horse or two, Ralph, he had a treble that day (Leicester) and is absolutely on fire, but then he has been for the last couple of months so there’s no surprise there.”
Mortlake is in the very early days of his career and will be handled with patience, as is the modus operandi of his owners, who have produced several horses to lucrative sales overseas with their approach.
“We’ve got a nice syndicate, we only buy five yearlings a year and punch way above our weight for that,” O’Connor explained.
“We started in 2017 and every single year we’ve had a decent horse, my definition of decent being 90-105 rated. Our model is very obvious, we move them off to Australia or foreign climes at the end of their three-year-old year, replenish the pot and go again.
“Jeremy Brummitt buys our horses and is our de facto racing manager and he does a very good job. We had two horses in our first year, five each year after, maybe six in one year, and to be able to produce a 100-rated horse every year is tremendous – hopefully we can continue it.
“We go through that cycle every year in the hope of unearthing a serious Group horse, in which case we’d be more inclined to keep them racing in the northern hemisphere.
“We do things the right way, we buy horses with clear staying pedigrees and we’re very patient with them. You read about syndicate members wanting a quick return and therefore buying precocious types – we’re the diametric opposite of that.
“We buy horses we know we need to be patient with, we don’t normally see our horses out before August or September so he’s almost precocious for us!”
Connections are excited to see what Vandeek can achieve next, as his rapid rise through the ranks is likely to see him line up in the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes in September.
Trained by Simon and Ed Crisford, the son of Havana Grey only made his debut in late July, but since that successful bow at Nottingham, he has gone on to scoop the Richmond Stakes at Goodwood before providing his Gainsborough Thoroughbreds training operation a first Group One success when plundering the Prix Morny.
That top-level success in Deauville was also just the second Group One triumph for his Bahrain-based owners KHK Racing Ltd after Eldar Eldarov’s St Leger success last season.
Now their latest high-class performer is on course to try to add further riches to his glowing CV and is pencilled in to appear at Newmarket on September 30, where possible opponents could include Aidan O’Brien’s Prix Morny third River Tiber.
“The horse showed to everybody that he is very much on the upgrade. His rise has been pretty quick really and within the space of five or six weeks he has gone from winning a maiden at Nottingham to winning a Group One at Deauville,” said Chris Wall, racing manager for the owners.
“He’s improved and improved and improved with each run and he’s well entered up, but at the moment the plan is to go for the Middle Park.”
Vandeek also holds an entry in the Darley Dewhurst Stakes, again at Newmarket, on October 14 and the way the progressive colt saw out the six-furlong trip on both the Sussex Downs and Normandy coast would suggest seven furlongs would be well in reach.
Wall admits the timing of that typically red-hot event does bring the race into calculations, but for now the focus appears to be on having Vandeek in peak condition for another crack at six-furlong success in the Middle Park.
He added: “There’s two weeks between the two this year and he has shown he can take his races back-to-back fairly quickly. That is what he has done so far this summer and doesn’t hold any horrors for him.
“But we’ll go one race at a time and I would have thought the most likely spot is the Middle Park and then after that we’ll see what we want to do.”
KHK Racing also have Knight in training with the Crisfords and last year’s Horris Hill winner took a step in the right direction when second to Angel Bleu in the Group Two Celebration Mile.
It was Mehmas gelding’s best performance since his unbeaten two-year-old campaign and although future plans are still to be confirmed, a trip to ParisLongchamp on Arc weekend is one possible option.
Wall said: “He’s a horse who is getting back on track. Things hadn’t gone his way in the early part of the season and he was getting very upset and stressed about all sorts of things, so we had him gelded and that seems to have done the trick.
“His comeback run in the Thoroughbred Stakes was satisfactory, it was a solid enough run for a horse that hadn’t run much this year. But he took a big step forward and ran a much better race in the Celebration Mile and it is good to see him getting back to that.
“I think a bit of cut in the ground always helps him, his best form has come with that.
“I’m not sure what Simon and Ed have planned for him yet, but I would have thought something like the Prix Daniel Wildenstein over at the Arc meeting might be a suitable spot for him.
“He’s going to be kept in training as a fun horse to run in all of those sort of races and I think he will fit into that category nicely.”
Jack Davison has described She’s Quality as “probably the best horse I have trained” after the filly proved well named in shedding her maiden tag at Newbury.
The daughter of Acclamation bumped into next year’s 1000 Guineas favourite Ylang Ylang when third on debut before going on to finish a two-and-a-half-length fourth in the Group Three Anglesey Stakes on her second start.
She then further advertised her potential when splitting Michael O’Callaghan’s Navassa Island and Round Tower Stakes winner Letsbefrankaboutit in a Curragh maiden, before getting off the mark with a flourish in her raiding mission to Newbury, surging the best part of four lengths clear of the opposition in the hands of James Doyle.
Davison said: “She’s a lovely filly and very exciting and I would go as far to say she is probably the best horse I have trained. It’s super to have her and she should be a better three-year-old as well, so it’s great.
“I think Newbury was the first time she got nice conditions – good, quick ground and six furlongs. We were able to get a bit of cover and she was more professional. She’s very much on an upwards curve.”
She’s Quality provided her County Meath handler with just his second victory on UK soil and is now set to have her sights raised with both the valuable Goffs Million at the Curragh on September 23 or a shot at Group One glory in Newmarket’s Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes a week later being considered for her next outing.
“She’s a better filly on better ground, so it will be a toss up between the Goffs Million and the Cheveley Park,” added Davison.
“I will have to keep a close eye on what the ground is doing and if she is going to get a stiff seven at the Curragh, it will want to be nice ground. It’s 50-50 really.
“It would be quite exciting to have a good chance in the Goffs Million and we will look forward to plenty of black-type opportunities with her next year. But if the ground was to come up soft in Ireland and nice in England, I would have no problem redirecting her to the Cheveley Park, she’s of that calibre.”
It was Thunderbear who gave Davison with his first UK winner when striking at Nottingham earlier in the season and having gone on to ply his trade at Group level in his next three outings, he is poised to make his first start in France early next month.
Although running with credit in some top-quality events over six and seven furlongs, he will now drop back to the minimum distance for ParisLongchamp’s Prix du Petit Couvert on September 10, where his handler is predicting he will thrive.
“Thunderbear is very well and he’s entered in a Group Three at Longchamp,” continued Davison.
“I look forward to dropping him back to sprint distances on soft ground. I think that will really be his game and we haven’t seen the best of him yet. He has plenty of speed.”
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